Days 16 & 17: A Return to the North Shore

Impromptu greeting in Hale'iwa

As Samantha will soon be leaving to attend a wedding on the mainland, I hopped TheBus back to the North Shore on Thursday to spend some more time with her before she leaves. As TheBus approached her house she hopped on and we traveled onward together into Hale'iwa to eat, once again, at The Beet Box Cafe, where we split a bowl of sauteed broccoli, onion, carrots, zucchini, red peppers, and tofu in a Thai curry peanut sauce over brown rice. Of course, there were also smoothies (banana, honey, almond butter, cocoa and            
almond milk for Samantha and papaya, banana, yogurt, cardamom and almond milk for me). Over lunch we discussed world matters big and small, in the ways that good friends do. Afterward we floated from shop to shop in Hale'iwa, looking at artwork and eating homemade ice cream (Vanilla Macadamia Nut & Meyer Lemon). When it came time to get on TheBus at the end of the day to return to Kaneohe, I wished I could have taken her with me. Every time I see Samantha I am sorry that we do not get the opportunity to spend more time together. She is such a positive and grounding influence in my life and I feel lucky that we have each other. There are so many things that I still want to do on the North Shore, including: hiking Waimea Valley, exploring Shark's Cove, and watching surfers at the Pipeline. Hopefully the next blog post you read about my adventures at the North Shore will include a picture of me next to the famous "Welcome to the North Shore" sign, a picture that I have been unable to take, in that past, due to my fear of stopping and starting a manual car on an upward slope in traffic.

Janine appreciating our creme brulee dessert

The following day Janine and I booked tickets for our 48-hour island hop next weekend to the Big Island. As of now, we will be visiting the Big Island of Hawai'i and staying in Hilo. We hope to visit the Volcanic National Park, track a lava flow, lounge on a Black Sand Beach, and zip line over a rain forest (more to come later). We will be island hopping after Janine gets out of work on Thursday night and hopping back to O'ahu Saturday night to get Janine back for work on Sunday. When booking our flights, I got a special little kicl out of the fact that I am now 25 and able to rent a car (we're getting an automatic). I am especially excited for our visit to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - I hope the weather cooperates and the lava is flowing!

We celebrated our superior decision-making skills over a delicious dinner at The Grove in Kailua (Yes, I am aware that this post is excessively food-oriented. Can you blame me?). We bonded over cocktails, Maine Lobster Risotto (Maine Lobster, Ewa Sweet Corn Relish, Kahuku Sea Asparagus, and Grape Tomatoes), and Apple Banana Creme Brulee while watching intricately decorated fish swim about in little aquarium tanks and fighting back the sniffles that have plagued us lately as a result of changing weather patterns and O'ahu's VOG (volcanic smog) level.